


A Lesson in Circumspection

by Ariel_Tempest



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Accidental Coming Out, Allies, Fluff, Lizzy Ellis, M/M, Making Out, Period-Typical Homophobia, Prequel, Servants, victorian gay boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24032299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ariel_Tempest/pseuds/Ariel_Tempest
Summary: Many men describe first meeting their wives in glowing terms.If seventeen year old Richard Ellis had to pick a term to describe meeting the girl he would one day marry, he'd be more inclined to go with "vaguely traumatic."
Relationships: Richard Ellis/Original Male Character
Kudos: 23





	A Lesson in Circumspection

**Author's Note:**

> I am still alive and still writing. I've dedicated this year to finally finishing at least a rough draft of one of my fan novels, and so far have been failing rather spectacularly. This is one of two unrelated pieces that ambushed me at the end of April.
> 
> Thanks always to my beta, Hinny_B, without whom this particular piece would have wound up in the rubbish bin, and probably on fire. She made it better.

The house beyond the boot room door was still but for the ticking of the clocks and the soft scurrying of a mouse the cat had apparently decided to save for later. With the world asleep, Richard saw no reason for caution. He leaned against the boot room’s counter, his head tilted back as far as it could go, leaving his neck open to the sloppy, open mouthed kisses of the house’s third footman. He forgot to be quiet as he gasped the other boy’s name into the darkness, “Eddie..Eddie please.”

“What’s the rush?” Eddie chuckled against his skin. “We have an hour easy before anyone’s up, I should think. And just imagine, now that you work here, we can do this all the time.”

The idea was nearly enough to finish Richard off on the spot. With the older boy’s help, he’d managed to land the fourth footman position, despite having less experience than some other applicants. Of course, the glowing recommendation of a childhood friend wasn’t nearly enough to entice a butler like Mr. Cartwright to hire someone who had only been a hall boy to date. It was a good thing that Richard had done well in school, and shown a good work ethic and willingness to learn at his previous house. It had all paid off in the end. 

Now he had a good position in a respectable house, room for advancement, and best of all, he and Eddie wouldn’t be relegated to seeing each other during chance encounters when they both happened to be home on holiday at the same time. “I suppose we should sleep at some point,” he replied, although the suggestion lacked any seriousness. Sleep seemed incredibly unimportant with Eddie pushing his nightshirt off of his shoulder and running his fingers along the exposed skin.

“There will be time for a lie down. Later. There usually is.”

Richard was about to suggest they find a place to lie down now when the door suddenly flew open, admitting a small, slender figure holding a candle. One of the boys (and honestly Richard wasn’t certain if it was him or Eddie) let out a yelp which brought the intruder to a halt. Eyes wide and startled, she stood frozen as they scrambled to distance themselves. She looked to be about fourteen, with dark curls pulled mostly back in a knot, and was wearing a standard maid’s apron.

“Oh, so sorry,” she finally managed, “Only I need the borax. It’s in that cupboard behind you.” She pointed just over Richard’s head. 

Too stunned to really do anything else, Richard turned and reached for the cupboard only to realize his nightshirt was still half off. He hastily pulled it back on, then retrieved the requested box.

“Lizzy! What are you doing up?” Eddie demanded. Some detached part of Richard’s brain wondered if it was quite the proper thing to do. After all, they were more at her mercy than the other way about. Perhaps the other boy thought if they just acted normal, she would somehow miss what was going on? Or maybe the yelling was just him trying not to panic. “You’re not supposed to be up for another hour, you’ll be dead on your feet!”

His posturing earned him an eye roll. “Really, Edgar, you act as if I’ve not been doing this since I was twelve!” she shot right back. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to get a head start on things, only I found there’s ants coming up next to the chimney in the blue room, if you can imagine-”

“Why were you in the blue room?”

“Because Mrs. Hill is putting Mr. Lawrence in it when he comes to visit, and since I was up anyway, I figured I’d get the fire laid out in advance. And there are ants, and we can’t have ants in Mr. Lawrence’s room, so I need the borax to get rid of them.” 

“Here you are, then,” Richard said, handing her the box.

She smiled at him. It was a broad, friendly smile, with no sign of malice what so ever. She must have somehow missed what was going on. Richard couldn’t think of how, as it seemed perfectly, incriminatingly obvious to him, but she must have. “Thank you ever so much, Richard, was it?”

“Yes, miss.”

“You know perfectly well it is,” Eddie scowled at her. “Mr. Cartwright introduced him at dinner.”

Lizzy rolled her eyes at him again and turned to leave. “Yes, well, you two might want to worry about getting some sleep yourselves.” She paused in the doorway, giving them a pointed look. “And by the by? The boot room is really not the best place for things like this. Try the storage attics, next time, I don’t think anyone goes up there.” 

The door swung closed behind her, leaving her parting words to sink in. For a long, silent moment, both of the boys stood staring at the door. Richard tried to puzzle out if he was dreaming. It didn’t feel like he was asleep, really. If nothing else, he wasn’t normally cold in dreams, but now a slow chill was seeping in through the thin cotton of his nightshirt. But what had just happened…

Couldn’t have just happened. If it had, he’d be out on his ear as soon as the sun was up, not getting advice from the scullery maid on…

Well. The sort of thing girls just didn’t give you advice on.

He risked a sideways glance at Eddie, only to find Eddie risking a sideways glance at him. The older boy cleared his throat. “You know, what you were saying earlier? About sleep? ‘S not a bad idea, really.”

“First day actually working tomorrow, right?” Richard nodded, suddenly as eager to be in bed as he’d been eager to be out of it earlier. 

“Right. So.” Eddie gestured to the door. “Off with you, now.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be along shortly. Just need a bit of a snack is all.”

Perhaps Richard was still in shock or perhaps he was just more rattled than he’d thought, because he nearly asked how the other boy could be hungry at a time like this before realizing that was just an excuse to be up. He bobbed a nod and scrambled for the door. Cautiously sticking his head into the hallway, every noise now echoing like canon fire in his ears, he found it empty and turned back long enough to say, “Sleep well.”

“You too. See you at breakfast.”

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of notes:
> 
> The chemical borax was being used in houses at the time and can be used to discourage insects.
> 
> Every reference, fictional and historical, I have on this time period agrees that servants saw things. Scullery maids saw more things than most. Therefore, even though she's only fourteen, Lizzy will have been doing this for two years, probably grew up on a farm, likely with brothers, and she is no longer phased by much. 
> 
> I have vague plans to do more with Lizzy. Then again, I have vague plans to do a lot of things. I also have ADD, so we'll see how that goes.


End file.
